I am planning on teaching Night as well as Sold to my class next semester. I think it would work well not just along with the themes of evil and suffering in the world, of losing innocence, but also with the idea of complacency. It can be a bit of a social justice unit--we can ask if those who did nothing during the Holocaust were somewhat responsible, and then ask the same question with the human trafficking happening today.
Organizing Questions
-Why is there evil and suffering in the world?
-Is complacency in the face of evil just as bad as committing the evil?
-How does using a poetic form change the way a story is read?
Goals
-It takes actual people standing up against things for anything to change
-Poetry can move a story along in a more eloquent and emotional way
-Many around the world have to face terrible situations everyday
General Unit Objectives
-By the end of the unit, students should be able to understand how poetry can move a story
-By the end of the unit, students should be able to see how a personal record is more moving than facts
-By the end of the unit, students should be able to have an understanding of how to discuss evil in the world
-By the end of the unit, students should be able to see how apathy is a form of evil
-By the end of the unit, students should be able to have a basic understanding of the horrors of the Holocaust
Common Core Standards CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.9 Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.5 Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.6 Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature.
List of Possible Materials/Supplementary Texts
-"First they came for the Socialists" by Martin Niemöller
-"Never Shall I Forget" by Elie Wiesel
-Life is Beautiful film
-Paper Clips Project documentary
List of Possible Learning Activities - A "found poetry" assignment after reading Night to also introduce the way Sold is written.
- A telling and retelling of a personal story, first by using only facts and then by speaking in the first person
Organizing Questions
-Why is there evil and suffering in the world?
-Is complacency in the face of evil just as bad as committing the evil?
-How does using a poetic form change the way a story is read?
Goals
-It takes actual people standing up against things for anything to change
-Poetry can move a story along in a more eloquent and emotional way
-Many around the world have to face terrible situations everyday
General Unit Objectives
-By the end of the unit, students should be able to understand how poetry can move a story
-By the end of the unit, students should be able to see how a personal record is more moving than facts
-By the end of the unit, students should be able to have an understanding of how to discuss evil in the world
-By the end of the unit, students should be able to see how apathy is a form of evil
-By the end of the unit, students should be able to have a basic understanding of the horrors of the Holocaust
Common Core Standards
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.9 Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.5 Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.6 Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature.
List of Possible Materials/Supplementary Texts
-"First they came for the Socialists" by Martin Niemöller
-"Never Shall I Forget" by Elie Wiesel
-Life is Beautiful film
-Paper Clips Project documentary
List of Possible Learning Activities
- A "found poetry" assignment after reading Night to also introduce the way Sold is written.
- A telling and retelling of a personal story, first by using only facts and then by speaking in the first person